Memory Walk is done well in Estherville

October 9, 2010

The Iowa Lakes Memory Walk held Oct. 2 in Estherville was such a special event and I would just like to thank all who were involved or helped in any way to make this such a touching and loving event with special thanks going to Kelly Schultz-she certainly puts her heart and soul into helping those with Alzheimer's disease and their families, friends and neighbors.

We met Kelly Schultz when we were looking for some help with our loved one and some information on Alzheimer's disease. It did not take us long to figure out that she really cared and wanted to help us with some respite care, education on the disease and other resources. We are very fortunate in Northwest Iowa to be represented by such a caring and touching individual.

Kelly stopped by with the story on the Olesen family that was printed in the Estherville Daily News. What a wonderful story and a touching tribute to Don and his entire family. Mr. Tidemann did an exceptional job writing such a wonderful story. This is a terrible disease and sometimes people forget the wonderful people that are deep inside this disease. Thank you for sharing in such a positive way.

We had never been to a memory walk before and we wanted to come and show our support to Kelly Schultz for all the hard work that she does. She had told us that the band Cornerstone would be entertaining and that they not only had good music, they were super people. We were touched by the kind words of Denise from the band in her thanks to Kelly and the little girl that came forward and sang some songs with the band. It was so heart warming. All the silent auction items from the business people in Estherville and surrounding communities were great. What a wonderful outpouring of support. The Regional Wellness Center is a lovely building and must be a proud center point of your community.

Tuesday morning I looked at the on-line edition of the Estherville Daily News and after I got off work, I drove over to Estherville to pick up a paper so that I could read everything about the memory walk. Thank you for your articles. They are touching those of us that live with this disease in our family. I understand that the walk rotates each year between some of the communities that are served by the Iowa Lakes Branch of the Alzheimer's Association. It will be hard to match the hospitality of the Estherville community. What a job well done!